Passed by Indian Parliament in 1983, Indian Penal Code 498A, is a criminal law (not a civil law) which is defined as follows,
“Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. The offence is Cognizable, non-compoundable and non-bailable.
How are you at risk and why it is dangerous for the society? Your wife/daughter-in-law who's demands are not met can make a written false complaint of dowry harassment to a nearby police station. The husband, his old parents and relatives are immediately arrested without sufficient investigation and put behind bars on a non-bailable terms. Even if the complaint is false, you shall be presumed guilty until you prove that you are innocent.
I stayed up late and read all the horror stories and came to the conclusion that Indian men have it WORSE then American men if they wind up with the wrong women because their whole family is targeted by not only the wife, but her whole family as well. Seems to me that the Indian Penal Code 498A allows whole families to raid other families.
Here is the list to the stories: http://www.498a.org/victimStories.htm
Here is a few good stories I picked out:
I am working as IT professional in Australia since
last seven years. I completed my education(MCA) in
India and have been in good job since then. I am
currently in Sydney. My parents are living in
Faridabad.
I got arranged marriage in India Oct 2001 and
sponsored my wife, Pooja Saxena, to come over to
Australia (on permanent residency visa) to live with
me. We stayed together for eight months and during
that period I found her to be extremely dishonest,
unloyal, unfaithful, a big liar and greedy for money
and it was obvious her intention to marry was just to
come over to Australia and for the money. She had been
asking me to sponsor her brother to Australia as well
and to bear all his expenses on his education and
living. There was no love, commitment though I tried
my best to compromise with the situation and have
excused her on all occasions assuming it may take time
for her to adjust.
We went to India in Oct 2002 and there she tried a lot
of trouble by creating misunderstanding between
brothers, their wives and started stealing jewellery
and cash from home to take it to her mothers place.
Have been talking vulgar about my mother and brother.
Then she was involved in a horrifying crime by
secretly stealing and then destroying the passports of
my younger brother and his wife. They are living in
USA and where also on holidays there. My brother is
working as software engineer in Chicago. She did it
just two days before their departure and my brothers
whole career was in danger as he could not go to USA.
It is a long process to get the new passport issued
and then get visa processing again. It was a mental
torture for all of us.
It was not know where the passport have gone until
three days when the time came for me and my wife to
come to back to Sydney. Our luggage was packed it was
just five hours before our departure when we were
getting ready and I found a trace of torn passport
photo inside the toilet. It took me no time to
understand by her activities that it was her act. I
had to postpone our return to Sydney. I called my
father-in-law and sent her back(Nov 2002). I have all
the proofs with me that she has damaged the passport.
She has tried to torture everyone in the family by her
cruel and criminal acts. I then came back alone to
Sydney in extreme stress. I regretted a lot for
marrying and loving such a cupid girl. She contacted
me many times after that and asked me to call her back
to Sydney. But her intentions were still clear. I can
not live whole life with her.
I am Australian citizen and by the Australian
laws(validated by Indian law as well) I applied for
divorce at the earliest possible date and had sent her
notice on 16 Dec 2003 in Gujarat where she lives. The
notice was received by her.
Later suddenly on 14th Jan 2004, police and lawyer
from Indore came and arrested my aged parents and my
youngest brother who lives in Faridabad and within few
hours took them to Indore . They have to get me as
well but since I am in Australia, they can\'t arrest
me. My wife had filed a false case of torture in dowry
case under section 498A in Indore(Though her residence
is in Unjha, Gujarat). She put a false allegation that
I and my parents and have beaten her many times and
even have tried to burn her for demand of dowry. I or
my parents or any family member have never ever
touched her with any bad intentions. She has accused
this allegation after 14 moths of separation upon
receipt of divorce notice.
She didn\'t even mentioned the fact, the real reason
for what she was sent back to her fathers place.
Rather she said that she came back herself. Though I
have enough proofs for my claims. When my wife had
spend just about initial month or two in whole of our
married life with my parents. Also she had been
separated and staying away for more than a year.
I was extremely shocked. I have nor my parents or
brother have even touched her anytime with any
intention of beating or burning. We are from
respectable family. My father is retired engineer from
Dept of Atomic Energy. My brothers are well settled
and are earning extremely well.
She did such criminal act, still being decent we sent
her back respectfully with her father when we
separated. If we would have been strict, we could even
have got her arrested for destroying passports. But
still we respected her being a women.
It was a brutal torture to my innocent retired aged
parents and my innocent brother. Without any notice
they had to travel from Faridabad to Indore in police
custody for three days a distance of about 900km in
police vehicle. My mother is heart patient and is
under treatment. She was extremely exhausted, It was a
big risk for her. How can police just come and arrest
and torture anyone just on someone\'s fraudulent and
false allegation.
Later my elder brother had to go from Rajasthan to get
them released on bail on 16th Jan after spending one
night in lockup and three days in police custody.
My parents have a very clean and respectful life but
now have to see such a days.
It is big slap on Indian judiciary that they can just
destroy anyone\'s dignity and can prosecute without
trial. There is no respect for senior citizens who
have served the country for the whole life. At the
same time the legal system have a blind faith on
crook, cunning young married women and her parents. I
am feeling dismay. My aged parents and brother have to
suffer who have nothing to do with my wife. My crook
wife and her greedy parents aim is to get me and
extract a lot of money form me.
As a figure in India, almost 90% of such cases are
dismissed by the court after find the case as
malicious, but there is no punishment of making false
allegations. Almost all the divorce ends up in 498A,
where the reality is that dowry is not practiced and
hardly any women are harassed in educated well earning
family in urban area. And of 90% cases the police get
a good excuse to harass any respectable person and
then to discharge them after harassing. Lawyers and
police are making a big money by trapping innocent
citizens.
In my case
- my wife filed it after delay of 14 month of
separation when serviced from my side with the notice
of divorce
- It was filed at Indore which has nothing to do with
me or her, we have never ever lived together there.
Neither is this her place of residence. Just she has a
influence there. While the law states that the case
has to filed at the place of alleged crime.
- Its a clear case of After Thought done with
malicious intention, which is done to defame us to
negotiation table where she and her greedy father can
blackmail and extract our hardly worked earnings of
years.
Even after all this she was successful to get the
complain lodged at Indore and the police from other
state came and arrested my parents and brother without
permision of local police in Faridabad. Also a copy of
FIR is still not been handed over to us.
In the ongoing crises my aged mother in India was
admitted in hospital with severe cardiac pain and
abnormal blood pressure on 22th Jan\'04 while they have
to arrange lawyers and plan the visit to attend the
next date 29th Jan with a notice of just 7 working
days to be attend in Indore 900km far from our place.
My mothers health is so severs that she is going to be
operated today on 23th Jan. Not attending will weaken
our case. Who is going to look after my mothers and
aged father health?
As I am also the accused in my wife\'s complain, I can
go there in India as the police will arrest me. I am
just helpless.
As such there is no fair judicial or law system in
India. Its against the basic right to live with
respect.
My brother had filed for a divorce from USA.She had abadoned and left USA with the child October 2004.I havent seen or spoken to his wife for over 3 years. I had to go tho India for my motherinlaw\'s death in June 2005 with my 2 small kids aged 6 and 4..The petitioner,my brothers wife filed a 498a on July 5th 2005.I was arrested along with my aged mother and remanded to judicial custody.The police didnt ask us anything or listen to our story.Then we got bail,my passport was seized by the court. I applied for the quash of Fir.It was accepted in the Madras high court and all the investigation was stopped till the Police came up with evidence.IN the meanwhile I applied for passport release and relaxation of bail which was granted by the lower court in Chennai.Now I am waiting for the final hearing of mu quash in the high court.
